How Dangerous is Judo?

Back in 1882, one of the most effective martial arts was formed. At the time, Jigoro Kano was in his 20s when he decided to create the fighting system. After this, grappling arts, in particular, were never the same again. These days, Judo can be found in Sambo, Wrestling, and was even the forefather of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Further, the Japanese art even found great success in MMA with the likes of Ronda Rousey winning UFC titles by throwing her opponents to devastating effect. Ironically, Judo roughly means ‘the gentle way’…but if you’ve ever trained it, then it can be anything but gentle.

Below, we shall analyze just how dangerous Judo is. This will be looked at in three stages. First, we shall look at Judo being trained in a traditional setting within the dojo. Next, we will move on to Judo in an MMA setting in the cage, and lastly we shall look at Judo in a street, self-defense situation. All of these settings have different implications for Judo and what throws shall be prioritized.

How dangerous is Judo in sparring or in competition?

If you really want to test your Judo skills in a competitive setting, then you should test it out during randori or in a competition. This will go beyond drilling a move and see how you do against a resisting opponent. Some martial arts can be considered too soft as they don’t do proper sparring, which means your skills are never pressure-tested. It’s one thing doing moves on someone willing to be thrown, but another against an aggressive opponent. This is why sparring is encouraged for any martial art.

With this said, you can get injured when doing randori. Sadly, this part of Judo and if you train for long enough, the reality is at some point you will get hurt. Whether this means breaking a limb by landing on it awkwardly or suffering a long-term chronic injury…Judo can be rough. This is amplified further when practicing Judo in a competition setting. Sure, you may get thrown around in the gym, but in a competition setting, people are going 100%. This means you’re more likely to get thrown with aggression and resist even more so. This will only enhance your chances of getting hurt. The same applies to your opponent’s or training partners too.

Basically, Judo is dangerous in this sense. However, it’s also not dangerous when compared to striking martial arts. This may be where the term ‘the gentle way’ comes in. In brief, Judo doesn’t have strikes to the head…at least not intentionally. This means your chances of concussions and CTE are drastically lessened. The result is that you can theoretically train for years and into old age without getting seriously hurt. If compared to something like kickboxing, then Judo is not dangerous at all within a gym setting. Nonetheless, if compared to something like Aikido, it is far more dangerous for all involved. Of course, this all depends on the intensity that you train at as well.

How dangerous is Judo in MMA?

In MMA, the dynamics of Judo change massively. As Judo predominantly relies on gripping the collars and sleeves of the opponent, this element is removed completely. Here, you will also have to use Judo alongside strikes and wrestling. As mentioned earlier, Ronda Rousey still managed to make her Judo work even without the gi.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this is referred to as ‘no gi’, because it literally abandons the gi altogether. Because of punches, Judo now becomes more risky when compared to the gym. For instance, imagine trying an Ouchi Gaeshi with these new problems at play. Firstly, it would be way harder to set up without grips and you would rely on under and overhooks. Secondly, the consequences would be far worse if you failed. For example, imagine trying the Ouchi Gaeshi but the opponent defends the throw and counters with a knockout punch. This is possible. In fact, throws completely reliant on gripping clothes literally become impossible.

The result is that your Judo becomes even more dangerous to yourself. Further, if the opponent is a skilled grappler, then they too may be able to reverse your throws and put you in a worse position. Instead of ending with your back on the floor and resetting, you could now face getting your head caved in with punches. This isn’t a fun prospect. Thought of from the opponent’s perspective, you could argue that your own Judo becomes even more powerful too, as if it lands correctly, then you end up in a fantastic, attacking position.

Remember in MMA, Judo rules are gone as well. This means wrestlers can freely grab your legs, people can try strangle chokes and happily punch or kick you to defend. You could argue that in MMA, the risk and reward increases when compared to doing it in the gym. With this said, Judo is very dangerous in an MMA fight, especially if you are confident in your ability and you can easily out-grapple your opponent. At this point, you should be feared and it may even alter the way they strike if you have a good reputation as a grappler.

How dangerous is Judo in a street fight?

Let’s face it, most people train Judo for self-defense. That was its original intention after all. In short, Judo is incredibly dangerous when done correctly in the streets…and there are two key reasons for this. The first reason is that unlike in a Judo gym or even in an MMA fight, the floor will usually be very hard and is most likely done on concrete. Even grass can be quite hard, depending on if it has been watered.

Basically, this is where Judo can literally break bones due to gravity and technique. Imagine hitting an Uchi Mata and landing on your opponent on their ribs. This has been known to break the ribs, even in a gym or competition setting. However, if done on concrete, the landing is even more severe. Because of this, knowing a few specific Judo moves can instantly end a fight in seconds.

The second reason why Judo is so dangerous on the streets is because it doesn’t have a referee, nor does it stop. Imagine having an even fist-fight, then landing a throw and ending up in scarf hold. You could easily kill an untrained opponent here if you were a colored Judo belt who could maintain the position. Whether this is done by punches or submissions, they would be at your mercy. Of course, this isn’t encouraged for legal and moral reasons…but you get the point.

By a similar token, if your Judo skills aren’t particularly good then it can also land you in trouble. For instance, when watching street fight videos or low-level MMA, sometimes a fighter will try to hit a sloppy move. This can easily be reversed and then they end up in a bad position on the ground. Even if that fighter is aggressive, if the application is too sloppy or wild, then it can do more bad than good. This means for your own safety, it’s best to attempt throws that have little downsides if they fail. Most foot sweeps would be a good example of this, because even if they fail then you are ok, but if they work then you’re in a great position.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Judo is a fantastic form of self-defense. Like all things in life, it takes time to master. Having said that, if you train consistently for a year or so and test yourself in sparring then you should be able to confidently use it against an untrained opponent. This will put you in good stead and if done properly, it can be used very effective. The good thing about Judo is that even if your opponent is a skilled striker, then all of their advantages on the feet disappear the second that you put them to the ground.

It also has a submission-element which means juji-gatame’s and other attacks are also available once you train them. Lastly, if you really want to make sure your Judo is effective as possible, then it’s ideal to train whilst throwing in strikes. This will keep your Judo honest and train yourself to use it outside of an exclusive-grappling based scenario.

For those wondering about the safety of Judo when training it however, generally Judo can be considered relatively safe. Of course with all martial arts, there is always a risk of injury. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that getting repeatedly thrown to the floor will hurt your body either. However, in the big scheme of things, it is actually a lot safer when compared to other martial arts whilst also happening to be one of the most effective when thinking about self-defense as well. With this in mind, if you’re thinking of starting Judo then give it a go, many people find it highly addictive.